Without papers, Uighurs fear for their future in Turkey

Without work or residency permits in Turkey and unable to renew their Chinese passports, Qurbanjan Nourmuhammed and his family live in uncertainty in Istanbul, cut off from their son who returned to Xinjiang three years ago.

Nourmuhammed, his wife and five children came to Turkey in 2015, facing increased pressure from China to abandon Islamic practices such as wearing a headscarf, growing a beard and closing their restaurant for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

28 Feb 2019. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Nourmuhammed and his wife Gulgine Mahmut get their children ready for school.

China has faced growing international criticism for setting up facilities that United Nations experts describe as detention centres holding more than one million Uighurs and other Muslims. Beijing says it needs the measures to stem the threat of Islamist militancy, and calls them vocational training centres.

28 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

A view of Bosphorus from the courtyard of the Ottoman-era Suleymaniye Mosque.

Ismail Cengiz, founding secretary general of the Istanbul-based East Turkestan National Center, said that some 35,000 Uighurs live in Turkey, which has been a safe haven for them since the 1960s.

Turkey is the only Muslim country that has regularly expressed concern about the situation in Xinjiang, due to its close cultural links with the Uighurs who speak a Turkic language.

31 Jan 2019. Kayseri, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Tumturk poses in front of the headquarters of East Turkestan Culture and Solidarity Association.

While Uighurs had no problems in Turkey until three or four years ago, Ankara's security concerns and stronger ties with Beijing reversed that trend, said Seyit Tumturk, president of a rights organisation called the National Assembly of East Turkestan, the name that Uighur exiles use for Xinjiang.

Perceptions of Uighurs suffered after some went to fight with jihadists against President Bashar al-Assad's forces, because of the Syrian government's close ties with Beijing, Tumturk said, adding China has ramped up pressure since then.

1 Mar 2019. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Nourmuhammed prays at a mosque.

Nourmuhammed has not heard from his son Pakzat since he went back to Xinjiang in 2016 to visit his grandparents. A friend of Pakzat's told Nourmuhammed that Pakzat was detained upon arrival at the airport in Urumchi. He believes the government accuses him of having links with extreme Islamists.

The Xinjiang government did not respond to a request for comment.

12 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Gulgine Mahmut holds a placard with a picture of her son Pakzat.

The family regularly attends protests around Turkey in the hopes of having their voices heard.

"When my son was arrested, he was only a 16-year-old kid. His younger siblings ask us constantly when they'll be united with their older brother," Pakzat's mother Gulgine Mahmut said.

"I don't believe he was involved in a crime, I think he was falsely accused."

10 Mar 2019. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Nourmuhammed shops at a local market.

Nourmuhammed is unemployed as he waits for a residency permit he applied for in 2017 to be approved. Gulgine and their four children have been issued with permits, which risks tearing the family apart if Nourmuhammed is deported.

Nourmuhammed said his family also lost touch with relatives in Xinjiang, who asked not to be contacted due to fears that the government will associate them with jihadists.

11 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Ozuygur at a store which belongs to the East Turkestan Nuzugum Culture and Family Foundation.

Uighurs also cannot renew their Chinese passports at the local embassy when they expire and they are only given a document that will allow them to return to China, said Munevver Ozuygur, President of the East Turkestan Nuzugum Culture and Family Foundation.

Some 15 Uighurs who spoke to Reuters said they expect Turkey to pay more attention to their plight and give them the permits to allow them to work and benefit from the healthcare system.

After a gunman, believed to be an Uzbek national, killed 39 people in a popular Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day 2017, Turkey took a more careful approach to people from central Asia, tightening the vetting process for new arrivals, Tumturk said.

6 Nov 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighur women hold East Turkestan flags at the courtyard of Fatih Mosque.

"Not all of the people whose passports have been labelled as risky... are problematic people," he said. "People who can't retrieve a required document from China can experience the same issue."

Cengiz said many Uighurs had begun to fear they may be sent back to China. "Turkey was seen as the only country that could stand up to China. In the past year, they have been fearing for their existence in Turkey," he said.

31 Jan 2019. Kayseri, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighur boys raise their hands during a Koran class in a madrasa. The madrasa shelters 34 children, including eight who have lost at least one parent.

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However, some hope has returned after Turkey took a harder stance against China at a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting last month, where Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu criticised Beijing for the alleged mistreatment of Uighurs and called for authorities to protect the freedom of religion.

"There is a positive development in the favour of East Turkestan," Ozuygur said. "Turkey started to give China the message that it is aware of the oppressions that Uighurs experience in a proper way with a diplomatic attitude."

Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen

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Slideshow

14 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

A girl writes, 'We, children of Turkestan, love our homeland' in Uighur language at a kindergarten for Uighur children.

14 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Children attend the Uighur language class at a kindergarten for Uighur children.

31 Jan 2019. Kayseri, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighur girls attend a Koran class in a madrasa.

31 Jan 2019. Kayseri, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Abdulaziz Abdulvahid, 39, an Uighur man who has health problems and survives on Red Crescent aid, poses with his family. Two of Abdulvahid's children remain in Xinjiang, and he has not been in contact with them or any other family members since 2013. "I spent all my money to come to Turkey. I can't work because of a serious back problem. We are in need of help to survive," he said.

Chef Mohammed Siddiq chats with guests at his traditional Uighur restaurant. Siddiq said his restaurant is suffering because Uighurs tend to eat at home and Turks are not interested in Uighur food.

2 Mar 2019. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

A woman eats lunch at an Uighur restaurant in Istanbul.

27 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighur men work at a halal butcher shop in Zeytinburnu district where most Uighur exiles live in Istanbul.

31 Jan 2019. Kayseri, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighur shoemaker Mehdi Omar, 62, has been living in Turkey for five years with his ethnic Uighur wife from Kazakhstan, and has yet to receive residency papers. "I have no work permit so I can't start a business. I have to make a living by selling my handmade shoes on the streets," he said.

12 Jan 2019. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Seyfullaz Niyaz and his wife Mahdiya at their women's clothing store that sells Mahdiya and her daughter's designs. "Uighurs are hardworking and talented people. We want to live in Turkey without having to depend on anyone," Mahdiya said.

19 Mar 2019. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Gulgine Idris, an Uighur reflexologist, treats a patient. Idris, who was a gynaecologist in Xinjiang, now treats Uighur women with far-east medicine in her health centre. "Turkey is our second homeland but I miss my homeland," she said.

16 Nov 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Gulbahar Jelilova, an ethnic Uighur activist from Kazakhstan, said that she spent 15 months at one of the facilities that United Nations experts describe as detention centres and the Chinese government calls vocational training centres. "After I regained my freedom, I devoted myself to becoming the voice of suffering Uighur women," she said.

28 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighur children play at the courtyard of Fatih Mosque.

28 Dec 2018. Istanbul, Turkey. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Uighurs take part in a protest against China, at the courtyard of Fatih Mosque.